The Grand Haven boys water polo squad punched its ticket to the MWPA state competition after its performance at regionals last Saturday.

The Bucs, who fell short of a district title the previous weekend to conference foe Hudsonville, started strong at regionals. Their first win, a 7-2 victory over East Grand Rapids, secured them a spot at state.

“It felt really good because obviously we were going to state after that win,” junior Hayden Schouman said.

Following the state-qualifying victory, Haven lost to Rockford 13-6. They then exacted revenge with a win over the district champion Hudsonville Eagles.

After losing the district championship to Hudsonville by only one point, senior David Kooistra says the Bucs were ready for the rematch.

“Thankfully we brought our A game to regionals,” Kooistra said. “It was great to see all of the smiles back [on] our players after the well earned victory.”

Despite a third place finish in the regional tournament, the Bucs are ecstatic about the state tournament.

“I’m extremely happy that we qualified for the state tournament,” Kooistra said. “That was our season goal and we met it.”

According to Schouman, making it to the state tournament is impressive for more than one reason.

“This is like the first time in about 5 years,” Schouman said. “We’re not really known for going to state.”

Qualifying for state is one thing, but Grand Haven would like to bring home some hardware too. However, Haven’s performance at state will all depend on the quality of their practices.

“In order to play our best we have tried to focus our practices on efficiency and technical gameplay,” Kooistra said.

Schouman agrees, saying the team needs to go “all out” in practice, also adding that the team is anxious.

“I think everyone feels pretty good but we’re kind of nervous about the game on Friday,” Schouman said.

The Bucs will go head to head with Ann Arbor Pioneer Friday Nov. 14 at East Kentwood High School. The tournament begins at 5:15 p.m.